A test of the reliability and validity of the life -events calendar method using Ohio prisoners

Previous research indicates that self-report surveys can be used to gather quality information from respondents. However, the accuracy of self-reported data is often compromised by respondents' memory gaps, incomplete responses, and inability to recall the temporal ordering of past events. These considerations are especially pertinent when surveying offenders and others who lead unstable lives. To address these challenges social scientists have increasingly adopted life-events calendars.;Prior studies suggest the life-events calendar method improves respondent recall in survey research. However, reliability and validity tests of life-events calendar data are limited. Moreover, within criminology reliability and validity tests of life-events calendar data have not been conducted using samples that generalize to broader offender or prisoner populations. Accordingly, this dissertation examines the reliability and validity of self-reported life-events calendar data collected from a sample of Ohio prison inmates.;This dissertation makes three distinct contributions. First, it outlines the step-by-step process of conducting original research in prisons. The data used in this study were collected as part of a multifaceted data collection project composed of test and retest face-to-face interviews with incarcerated offenders, analyses of official Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction inmate records, and geo-coded neighborhood data. The detailed story of this project's development and administration is told through this dissertation. Special attention is given to topics such as securing IRB approval, instrument construction, interviewer training, respondent recruitment, scheduling, researcher presentation of self, doing reflective quantitative research, and resolving emergent challenges that are specific to conducting research in correctional settings.;Second, this dissertation draws from a sample that is representative of those who have been disproportionately affected by the recent and unprecedented growth of the U.S. prison system. The sample was intentionally designed to be more reflective of current prison populations than those used in previous self-report studies and life-events calendar research. For instance, the sampling frame consisted of minimum and medium security level male inmates between the ages of 18 and 32. In terms of demographic characteristics, criminal histories, and offending patterns respondents closely matched those who are now being sent to prison most frequently, getting released, showing the highest recidivism rates relative to other ex-prisoners, and experiencing the most noticeable increase in rates of re-arrest.;Third, this dissertation examined the test-retest reliability and criterion validity of life-events calendar data. Retrospective self-reports of residential moves, job changes, and arrests during the eighteen-month reference period featured low reliability. However, moderate to high reliability was found for self-reported use of alcohol and six other drugs, legal and illegal income, drug dealing, violent offending, property offending, and three different forms of involvement with the justice system.;Criterion validity tests using official prison records found poor validity for self-reports of arrests over the eighteen-month study period. However, moderate validity was found for self-reports of total lifetime arrests and convictions, and respondents' retrospective accounts of age at first arrest and number of prior prison terms featured strong validity. Poor reliability and validity for self-reported arrests during the study period may have stemmed from respondent confusion about what constitutes an arrest and the likelihood that official records are incomplete bases for criterion comparisons.;Several items related to life events, substance use, justice system involvement, and criminal activity were assessed. Overall, self-reports from the incarcerated men in the sample featured moderate to high reliability and validity for most indicators examined, and comparisons of Caucasians and African-Americans found more racial parity than dissimilarity in reporting behavior. Accordingly, this dissertation found that prison inmates were good survey respondents and that the life-events calendar method was an effective strategy for collecting reliable and valid self-reported information.;Most of the incarcerated men in the sample were socially disadvantaged. They frequently experienced short-term changes in their life circumstances, and many adopted a foreground orientation as they responded to day-to-day challenges such as supporting themselves, feeding families, and feeding drug addictions. The life-events calendar method is particularly well suited for collecting data from individuals who lead unstable lives. These respondents therefore comprised an ideal sample for reliability and validity tests of life-events calendar data. The men examined in this dissertation featured wavering life circumstances and were deemed disreputable by the criminal justice system and others in mainstream society, yet they typically provided consistent and credible information in their self-reports.